An Unexpected Affair (9 page)

Two broad-shouldered figures sat across the heavy wooden table she'd observed through the window during her evening walks around the garden outside. One was Derek, the other one she didn't know, but the similar build and hair color, as well as the familiar tone in which they spoke to each other suggested they were related. His brother perhaps?

She overheard them talk of secrets and of humans finding out. It was surreal, but it dawned on Clarice that just maybe, her memories from the bedroom earlier weren't just part of a crazy dream after all. She couldn't quite explain how she picked up on it, but a certain sadness hung around Derek, who sat with his back towards her. The other guy, Aidan, mentioned their parents' death, and it all started to make sense.

Although it was wrong to eavesdrop, she couldn't tear herself away from the conversation. As the two men spoke, she didn't just listen with her ears, but with her heart as well if that made sense. That added dimension was so different from anything she'd ever felt before; it made the act of spying irresistible. She stepped ahead and felt her perceptions of Derek's state of mind intensify.

"... A bear would rather die than to put his mate in harm's way, but who knows how it works for humans? I'm not sure we can trust her," Aidan said.

"I'm sure." Derek radiated confidence as he spoke. Their minds were somehow connected at that very moment. He knew she stood behind him, and she knew that he knew.

Although she initially hadn't been sure whether she wanted her presence to be discovered, now her concerns were wiped away. Derek turned and smiled at her. Her heart warmed at the realization that she at least had a little bit of insight into his feelings now, even if she couldn't explain why.

"You're awake."

"Yes." Clarice stepped ahead into the light radiating from the oil lamp in the center of the table.

Across the room, Aidan looked up at her, and she finally could have a proper look at him. A strong jawline, like Derek, messy brown hair and eyes that betrayed the capacity for great cunning as well as kindness. He was handsome in his own right but had nothing on Derek of course. He looked skeptical but didn't say a word.

"I couldn't help but overhear some of that," Clarice started.

Aidan raised an eyebrow and folded his arms.

"I don't know what happened between us, or how any of this works exactly," she addressed Derek now. "But I do know it's not just a phase, or something that'll easily pass. I feel you inside me, trying to connect with me. I can't ignore it."

Clarice glanced back up at Aidan again. "Your secret is safe. I couldn't tell anyone if I wanted to. Plus, do you think anyone would believe me?"

Although Aidan's expression suggested that he wasn't yet convinced, that didn't matter to Clarice at all. It was Derek she was concerned with, and the look he gave her now was halfway between pride and primal lust. When their eyes locked, she could clearly feel his intentions.
You're mine,
she thought. Or was that his thought rather than hers? Either way, she didn't know how she was going to deal with all this stuff coming from him, without acting on her most basic instincts.

He stared at her, as she stared at him. So much to see, so many hidden depths in those brown eyes that had sought to avoid her earlier.

Aidan cleared his throat as he got up from his chair. "I think I'm going to give you two some space."

Neither Derek nor Clarice so much as answered him. In their newfound connection to one-another, any third parties, family or otherwise, clearly held very little importance anymore.

"You can sense me," Derek said.

Clarice didn't need to nod her answer, but she did anyway out of habit.

"I've been able to feel you for days," he added.

This revelation put a smile on her face. A smile, which as it turned out, Derek could scarcely resist.

He got up, the heavy chair falling backward onto the stone floor with a loud crash. Neither of them flinched or looked back as he charged ahead, cupping her face with his large, surprisingly gentle hands and leaning down for their first kiss.

From the first touch of their lips, Clarice felt unlike anything she'd ever known. Fireworks, butterflies, electric jolts, all those terms could not begin to describe the sensations coursing through her veins. It was as if Derek's being infiltrated hers, irreversibly leaving his mark on her.

They couldn't hold back any longer, hungry kisses led to a feverish exploration of skin. His hard, muscular torso enveloped her in an embrace that made her feel tiny for the first time in her life. Tiny, yet safe, and dangerously out of control.

He ran his hands over her curves, taking his time, while his tongue teased hers, pushing her anticipation of what was yet to come higher and higher. He tasted sweet, with a hint of spice, and completely irresistible. The slight tickle on her face from his beard didn’t distract. Instead, it heightened her pleasure.

As they continued to explore each other's bodies, slowly peeling layer after layer of clothes off and admiring their discoveries, Clarice knew that there would be no going back after this. She wouldn't be able to turn her back on how he made her feel.

The little glimpses into his life and past she'd gotten from the overheard conversation gave her some sense of the man. The rational part of her brain knew that there was so much more yet to find out. Would she like what she found? Her heart screamed yes while her mind was aware of the risks, but it seemed not to matter. Whether she liked it or not, fate had already set her on this path with no choice in the matter.

Having already removed his hooded sweatshirt and finding that he wasn't wearing anything underneath, she couldn't believe her luck. All the fantasies that had crept up on her during those dark hours just before it was time to get up in the morning were coming true. His body was a work of art. Hard, chiseled lines and fluid curves of muscle that could put a Greek god to shame.

Derek McMillan was the kind of man who could have easily been cast as a Gladiator in Spartacus, a show Clarice had watched less for its artistic merit and more for the eye candy. The only difference was that he wasn't as smooth and artificially well-oiled as the actors in the show, which Clarice thought was a good thing.

Here in front of her stood not a photoshopped fantasy of a man, but a real one. Hers.

As he started to remove one of the last barriers between them, Clarice's t-shirt and jeans, it occurred to her that this was usually the point in new relationships that she'd dread the most. Although she didn't like to dwell on her insecurities, she couldn't always suppress the worry that a new partner might not like her as much naked as they seemed to with her clothes on. She always feared to see a little flinch or frown, or worse, complete indifference as Alan had shown towards the end.

Derek was unlike any other partner Clarice had been with, though. He didn't just continue on the path they'd set for themselves, kissing, tasting, and worshiping every inch of her exposed skin. He did so with an enthusiasm she couldn't even have foreseen in her wildest dreams.

When she looked at his expression, as he circled her nipple with his tongue, she couldn't see a hint of hesitation or disappointment in him. Everything was right between the two of them, just as it should be. They were both equally in awe of the perfection they'd found in each other.

He stopped what he was doing when he noticed her staring at him, then cupped her face again for further kisses. The urgency with which he pressed his lips against hers made her heart ache for him. Never before had she felt so wanted, so needed, so...

"I've never felt this way before," she whispered.

He didn't answer, not using words anyway. Instead he scooped her up into his arms, sweeping her off her feet figuratively as well as literally. Only two words entered her mind, their connection growing even clearer than before.
Me neither.

She felt weightless and unusually small again as he carried her through the dark lounge and down the hall, back into the bedroom she'd woken up in just minutes earlier. He laid her down on the soft covers, crawling on top of her on all fours. She was ready, as was he, to consummate their union in every possible way.

Derek gazed down at Clarice's face. She looked beautiful, almost angelic if he ignored the bruise on her forehead. Her hair was fanned out over the pillow, and her eyes glistened in the soft candle light. The rest of her was equally perfect.

He'd never thought much about it before, what his dream woman would look like, but he knew already that Clarice was all he'd ever want. Her endless curves invited exploration of a more tactile kind, whether using fingertips or even his lips, and he could no longer resist her. Both bear and man wanted just one thing, to claim her and make her his.

It was impossible not to think of her in terms of his mate, the one fate had picked out for him, but even otherwise she was an attractive woman. The fact that she didn't act like she knew made her even more irresistible. Derek appreciated beauty like the next guy - bear or human- but had never had much patience for vanity.

The sweet scent of her arousal, the one he'd got but a hint of earlier, filled the room completely now. She was ready, aching for him as much as he ached for her. He noted how much her pupils had dilated, and how her cheeks had flushed to a deeper shade of pink.

She parted her legs, not brazenly, but almost involuntarily as if she was acting on instinct alone. It was a sight to behold. Her entire body seemed to invite him in while her eyes begged for further affections. Meanwhile, she was on her own journey of discovery, tracing her fingers across his biceps, and his firm, muscular chest, exploring the inked patterns on his shoulder.

He ran his hand over the ivory skin of her cleavage, taking care to be gentle with her. She wasn't the first female he'd been intimate with - even if it had been a while - but she was his first human and seemed all the more fragile for it.

As much as he tried, one part of his anatomy refused to entertain the notion of a gentle coupling. His cock had swelled to a size that was impressive for a bear, never mind a human. He hoped beyond hope that he wouldn't hurt her when the time came.

They'd reached that moment, which hung right in between endless possibility and painful anticipation. His hand traveled downward, circling her belly button, then moving on further until it reached the soft, inviting curls of her mound. So silky. Like a cub's fur. He slipped his finger in between her folds, thrilled to find that she was already wet for him.

"Stop teasing me," she pleaded, as she struggled to keep her urgent breaths under control.

Her fingers twitched, fingernails scraping skin for just a moment, before she ran her palm across and down his chest, over the ridges of his washboard abs. It was then that she finally touched his cock for the first time.

He was rock solid, had been for a while already, but the tension in his manhood was threatening to grow out of control now. As her fingers closed around his thick shaft, his mind was wiped clean of any remaining thoughts and speculations. Nothing mattered anymore except her pleasure.

Derek closed his eyes and took a deep breath in an attempt to swallow the desire to break free from her touch and plunge into her already. No, there could only be one first time, and he was going to do things properly.

He pulled away from her and crawled downward on all fours. Although her lips continued to tempt him, he wanted to taste a different part of her now. He kissed, nibbled and licked his way down, edging ever closer to those curls he had touched earlier. Every touch of his lips was met with a moan of hers.

She was vocal, yet another thing about her that he was pleased to discover.

He gently parted her legs wide enough to allow him to position himself between her thighs. Then he dove in for his first taste. Her sex was slick with sweet nectar, which he lapped up hungrily. She writhed against the sheets as he licked her outer lips first, then circled inward further and further until he finally slipped his tongue inside of her.

She tasted of honey, made of the sweetest summer flowers. The perfume of her arousal surrounded him and seduced him in a way that nothing - and no one - had ever done before. He didn't pleasure her orally as a favor to her, but because his deepest, most powerful desires demanded that he do so.

Clarice grabbed hold of the sheets, tugging at them violently as he continued his exploration of her most intimate depths. A fever-like feeling descended over Derek, clouding his mind with a red haze that made it impossible for him to think clearly. His inner bear was in charge, and somehow he knew exactly how to push Clarice's buttons.

As he alternated between licking her deeper and teasing her clit with the tip of his tongue, she reacted more and more intensely until finally she had reached the edge of her control. With her back arched, and hips raised up against his face, her moans had turned to cries, and her ragged breaths paused just for a moment.

"Oh my God!" she cried out while reaching for his hair, tugging at it just hard enough to be pleasurable in a primal, almost painful manner.