Mary found herself pinned against the edge of the countertop as he leaned in for a kiss.

Relishing the feeling of his muscled torso pressing against her, she met him halfway, going up on tiptoes and winding her arms around his neck.

His mouth was warm and hungry. It devoured her, and each soft scrape of his beard against her lips stirred up a hot jolt of desire between her thighs.

She eagerly returned his kiss, welcoming his exploring tongue in her mouth and the slow slide of his big hands up and down her back from the dip of her waist to the nape of her neck.

Mary lost track of time, aware only of his touch and the heat gradually consuming her. She felt the hard bulge of his erection pressing against her belly and thrust her hips against him, regretting the layers of clothing that separated them.

When Tyler finally ended the kiss with soft, lingering nibbles, she was dizzy and throbbing with need. She clung to him, her fingers digging into the hard muscle of his shoulders through his T-shirt.

“So how would you feel about becoming my girlfriend?” he asked in a voice rough with desire.

Yes! I’d love it! Mary inhaled shakily, feeling drunk with desire.

But she didn’t want to give in that easily. “You mean, before we’ve even gone out on a date?”

* * *

Tyler could have kicked himself for blurting out that question.

So smooth. Thanks a fucking lot, Mr. Bear, he told his inner beast.

She wants us. His bear exuded smug contentment at having kissed the hell out of Mary.

Tyler couldn’t blame him. He’d been thinking about doing that all day, and damned if this second kiss hadn’t been even better than the one they’d shared over breakfast.

Mary was looking up at him quizzically, her cheeks flushed and her scent rich with sexual arousal.

Well, okay…maybe he hadn’t screwed this up, after all. She hadn’t said yes, but her response hadn’t sounded like a rejection, either.

Like maybe…just maybe…she’s open to some convincing.

Tyler forced himself to pull his hands away from her sweet body and step away from her and noted that she seemed reluctant to let go of his shoulders.

He had to cross his arms to keep from gathering her in where she belonged, pressed against him.

He raised his brows at her. “I cooked you dinner,” he reminded her. “From scratch.”

God, she had a beautiful smile, especially when she was in a mischievous mood.

“Okay, I’ll grant you that. You’re a great cook, by the way.” She paused and tilted her head. “You cook for girlfriends, right? It’s not just a date thing?”

“I’d cook for you all the time.” Tyler let hope surge through him. He added, “Plus, there are other benefits.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of benefits?” She mirrored his stance and crossed her arms over her chest. It did nice things to her cleavage.

He’d never seen her in a dress before, and she looked fucking delicious in this low-cut blue number. It was too much to resist.

“These kinds of benefits.” He took her shoulders, bent, and kissed his way urgently down her throat.

Mary’s pulse leaped against his lips, and he could hear her heart hammering as he let his lips travel lower, across her collarbones and down to the gently swelling top of her breasts.

She panted and clutched at him, and the sound of her pounding pulse caressed his hungry cock.

Tyler dropped his hands to her waist and lifted her up onto the counter. He slid the narrow straps of her dress off her shoulders, along with her bra straps, and pushed the top of her dress down, exposing her breasts.

“God, you’re gorgeous,” he breathed, and she arched her back, offering herself to him.

It was an offer he didn’t intend to resist. He and his bear both wanted to taste every inch of her and to hear more of those luscious moans.

He bent his head to her warm, soft curves and proceeded to do his best to drive her crazy with his lips, tongue, and fingers.

Every gasp and whimper just encouraged him. He wanted to hear her moan for him…hell, he wanted to hear her scream his name. And he was willing to take all the time she needed to get to that point.

He flicked his tongue over her nipple and slid his hand up the inside of her smooth bare thigh. She eagerly parted her legs for him as he trailed his fingers higher, pushing up the hem of her sundress until he reached the taut cotton shield of her panties.

Tyler traced a fingertip over the fabric covering her clit and finally got the moan he’d wanted.

He was definitely in his happy place now, surrounded by the taste and scent of a sexy woman who wanted him just as badly as he wanted her.

Mary was clutching at his shoulders again as he repeated the light, teasing stroke over and over until he could feel her shaking.

The whole time, he continued to kiss and nibble on her breasts, enjoying the noises she was making in response to his caresses.

“Tyler…please,” she begged and tried to grind herself against his hand.

Tyler raised his head from her breasts and grinned at her. “Anyone ever tell you how incredibly gorgeous you are?”

“I could say the same thing about you,” she responded, sounding breathless.

Encouraged, he reached higher and hooked his fingers under the waist of her panties. “I want to taste you.”

Mary raised her hips in reply, and he yanked her panties down over her bare feet before dropping them to the kitchen floor.

Then he moved between her thighs and draped her legs over his shoulders.

Tyler took a moment to appreciate the sight of Mary spread out like dessert on the countertop. Her lips were swollen with his kisses, and her breasts were bare and flushed, the nipples hard. The hem of her dress lay crumpled and bunched over her hips, exposing her sweet pussy to him. Her folds were swollen and flushed with need, and the scent of her arousal was potent and intoxicating.

He was so hard now that it hurt. He wanted to open his jeans, impale her on his aching cock, and then fuck her until she screamed his name.

Later, he promised himself. He had some unfinished business to take care of first.

Tyler bent and gave her pussy a long lick. She tasted like pure honeyed desire, and the sound she made was music to his ears.

“Yeah, like that,” he encouraged her. “Make some noise for me, gorgeous.”

And she did, as Tyler enthusiastically set to work driving her crazy with his mouth. He fucking loved hearing her enjoying his efforts.

When he could sense that she was getting close, he yielded to her ragged pleas for him to fuck her and obliged with a couple of fingers. She liked that, especially when he started using his thumb to stroke her clit while thrusting with his fingers.

Tyler leaned over her, his hand never slowing its rhythm. “I want to see you come,” he ordered, then lowered his face to her breast.

He took her nipple between his lips and drew on it hard.

Mary made a guttural sound and climaxed, her hot, wet pussy clenching his fingers in a pulsing rhythm as she moaned and clung to him.

He couldn’t wait to feel her come like that when he was buried balls-deep inside her.

Soon.

When the pulsing of her climax finally subsided, leaving her looking dazed and good enough to eat, he kissed her mouth, long and slow and deep.

When he finally drew back, he asked, “So, will you? Be my girlfriend?”

He swallowed hard and waited for her answer. He hoped to God that he hadn’t moved too fast. Wasn’t going to send her running for the hills.

Instead she gave him a slow smile, filled with promises. “If you promise to cook for me…and do this again.”

“I can’t wait,” he assured her, feeling so happy he could float away.

Tyler’s bear rose up inside him and gave a mighty roar of triumph.

“Maybe you don’t have to,” Mary said.

Tyler saw the hunger in her eyes and knew he didn’t have the self-control to make it all the way to the bedroom.

He needed to get inside her, and fast. Every fiber of his being was screaming with the need to take her hard and fast.

Mary was one step ahead of him. Her fingers were already unfastening the waist of his jeans.

Then the first responder apps on both of their phones sounded simultaneously.

“Fuck,” Tyler said, with vehemence. His bear howled with frustration.

“Dammit,” Mary said at the same time.

* * *

Hawkins Hardware was on fire, and the flames were visible from one end of Main Street to the other.

Like most of the other volunteer firefighters, Tyler kept his helmet, SCBA gear, and turnouts with him at all times. When the first responder app sounded, he and Mary had run to opposite ends of the house—she to change back into her police uniform, and he to put on his bunker pants and boots.

He grabbed his helmet and SCBA tank and met Mary at the front door. Thanks to their shifter speed, only thirty seconds had elapsed since the alert had sounded.

“I’ll drive,” Tyler said grimly. The alert had given the address of the fire, and sure enough, he could see a black column of smoke rising into the still, oppressive air.

The summer sun was beginning to sink behind the mountains, but it was still hot as hell outdoors. And it was only going to get worse once Tyler had to don his helmet and jacket.

With Mary following close behind him, he dashed for his pickup. They piled in and headed for Main Street.

The big ladder truck was already parked along the curb when Tyler and Mary arrived at the scene of the fire. Black smoke billowed from the front door of the hardware store, and the fire engine’s ladder was extending to the roof of the two-story, century-old brick building.

One of the firefighters would have to climb up there and chop a hole in the roof.

Tyler pulled up behind the fire engine and scrambled out of his pickup, pulling his jacket and helmet out from the extended-cab storage area behind the seats.

He noticed that Mary looked tense and could guess the reason why. It had been less than twenty-four hours since the fire that had destroyed her home.

“You gonna be okay?” he asked her, putting a hand on her shoulder. He could feel the tension running through her muscles like an electric current.

She nodded. “I’m the closest police officer to the scene. It’ll take Uncle Bill at least twenty minutes to get here from his place, and Kenny lives on Dean’s ranch. And it’s not like I have to do very much—just go interview the witness.”

“Witness?” Tyler followed her gaze to the man who was helping Mark Swanson connect a hose to the nearest fire hydrant. “Aw, shit.”

He’d known that Zack Barenkamp worked at Hawkins Hardware, but somehow hadn’t expected to see the other bear shifter here. Zack’s face and clothes were soot-stained, and he wasn’t wearing his turnouts, so he’d probably been at work inside the store when the fires broke out.

“Remember, you’ve got an alibi…me.” Mary said, only half-joking. “There are benefits to being my boyfriend, you know.”

The smile she gave him hit him in the gut like a hard punch.

“Now, you go fight that fire, and I’ll go talk to Zack.” She paused, and her smile deepened, becoming positively devilish. “And then we can attend to our, um, unfinished business back home.”

Home. He liked how that had sounded.

“Fuck yeah, that sounds like a great plan, Officer Jacobsen,” he told her and headed for the ladder truck to grab a hose.

Her flavor lingered on his tongue as he worked, and he could still smell her sweet scent drenching him. The sooner he and the other volunteers finished up here, the sooner he could get Mary right where he wanted her…in his bed, beneath him and screaming his name.