Grizzly Flying High (Air Bear Shifters 1) (11 page)

She closed her eyes and let the perfection of him overtake her. He switched sides, using his tongue on her right nipple and his thumb on her left. It didn’t matter whether he was touching her with his mouth or his hands, though. Any time any part of him came into contact with her, she felt like she was going to explode from the sensation. She arched her back and thrust her hips upward, trying to make contact with his groin. She wanted to feel his erection again. She wanted to feel how large he was, and revel in the fact that she was the one making him that way.

Sawyer met her hips with his own, letting her feel him, and then, sliding his head down from its spot above her breasts. He traced a wet line from her right nipple to the valley between her breasts, and then down the center of her stomach to her bellybutton. He traced a circle around her bellybutton, slowly. He took his time, seeming to enjoy the way Amanda’s breathing sped up with every new flick of his tongue. Finally, he pulled back and his hands reached for the button on her jeans. He unfastened it and began to unzip the zipper, letting his fingers run ever so gently over the skin on her stomach just above the waistline of the pants. Amanda shivered in delight, loving how strong his hands felt against her skin, even when he was being gentle.

Sawyer reached out and grabbed the waist of her jeans with his hands, and then began tugging them down over her hips. He kept tugging until the pants had broken free of her hips and the top part of her thighs, and slid easily off the remainder of the way. He tossed them onto the pile of her clothes, and then bent down to her socks. Using his teeth, he nipped at her ankles. Then he grabbed the first sock in his mouth and pulled it down and off, flinging it away with a sideways shake of his mouth. He repeated this performance with the second sock, taking care to throw in several sharp nips at her ankle. He growled every time she jumped at the shock of his teeth on her skin, seeming to enjoy the way she was responding to his touch.

When he was finished with her socks, the only article of clothing remaining on Amanda’s body was her pair of pink cotton panties. Amanda could feel that the crotch of the panties was completely soaked, covered in her own juices of anticipation as her body begged for Sawyer to make her his own. She had never responded so strongly and so quickly to a man before, but Sawyer wasn’t an ordinary man. He was like a god. His perfect strong body was like the fulfillment of all her fantasies, and she wanted him inside of her.
Needed
him inside of her.

“Sawyer, hurry!” she panted out. Those were the only words she could manage to say, but Sawyer understood exactly what she meant. Just because he understood, however, didn’t mean that he was going to bend easily to her request.

“Tsk, tsk,” he said, bending his head down to nip one of her ankles again. “Someone is getting a little impatient, isn’t she?”

He grabbed her ankles, one in each hand, holding her tightly with his large hands, which easily wrapped all the way around her lower legs. Then he licked a trail from her ankle to her knee, his warm, wet tongue creating a chaos of tingling sensations in Amanda that went straight to her core. She gasped with delight as he next blew on the wet trail, sending shivers through her body that mixed with the heat of his touch and made her feel like she could no longer tell which way was up or down. He repeated the process with her other leg before sliding up to where he could lick from her knee, up her thigh, right to the spot where her leg met the rest of her body. When he did this again on the other leg, Amanda could no longer take it. Her whole body trembled, threatening to lose complete control.

“Sawyer, now!” she gasped.

This time, he happily obliged her. Still using his teeth, he went for the hem of her panties, dragging them down and off her legs, leaving a wet trail of Amanda’s own juices on her legs as the soaking garment rubbed against her skin.

“You’re so fucking wet for me,” Sawyer said, his voice coming out in a husky, deep growl. He sounded fierce and in charge, and his tone turned Amanda on even more, sending a fresh wave of moisture spilling from between her legs.

“Can’t…help…it,” she panted.

Sawyer grunted with approval. “You’re ready,” he said. “Ready for me, your alpha, to be deep inside of you.”

And with that, he slid into position, his hard, throbbing erection poised right over her dripping entrance. He let out a long, primal roar, the sound echoing through the trees and sending shivers up and down Amanda’s spine.

And then he was inside of her.

Amanda gasped as he filled her, pushing against her tight, hot inner walls, demanding more room and taking what he demanded. She felt as though he was reaching all the way to her ribcage, mercilessly claiming her whole body as his. The searing heat she had felt before was nothing compared to the inferno that now shot through her. With every thrust of his strong, broad hips, a fresh flame tore through her. She could barely breathe as she succumbed to his fire, arching her back and somehow finding the energy to scream out his name as the impossible pressure and heat finally exploded, sending spasms of pure ecstasy to the desperate muscles between her legs. Involuntarily, they clenched around Sawyer’s large sheath, squeezing tighter with each pulse. The waves came in an intense, continuous rhythm that Amanda could not have stopped even if she wanted to.

But why would she have wanted to? The feeling of coming for him was incredible, unlike anything she had ever experienced before in her life. She couldn’t do anything except lie there underneath him and ride the wave, enjoying the best sex she had ever had—sex that was better than she had ever thought possible.

Moments after she exploded, Sawyer followed her into the fire, roaring out again as he stiffened and came into her in a series of hot, steady pulses. He thrust, hard, one last time, and then collapsed over her chest, spent and happy. He was careful not to crush her as he nuzzled his nose against her ear and whispered one word over and over between his rapid, ragged breaths.

“Perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect.”

Sawyer should have made his way back to town right away, to bask in the glory of his victory, reminding his clan members that their alpha was still the strongest, toughest shifter around. But he couldn’t tear himself away from the spot where he lay on the grass, staring up at the blue sky that was slowly turning orange, and then staring over at the beautiful face sleeping peacefully next to him on the soft ground of the small meadow.

Sawyer had to pinch himself to believe that the last several hours had actually happened. The day had been quite extraordinary, in so many ways. He could hardly believe that, since the sun rose this morning, he had defeated Simon, convinced Amanda to give him a chance, and then given her orgasm after orgasm underneath the watchful eyes of the thick Alaskan pines surrounding them.

Sawyer looked at Amanda again, smiling as he watched her chest rising and falling in the cadence of sleep. They had alternated between sex and conversation, until, finally, Amanda had drifted off. Sawyer hadn’t even realized she was sleeping at first. He’d been telling her a story about some of his adventures as a young cub in the Alaskan wilderness, and had realized at some point that she wasn’t responding. When he looked over, she had drifted away.

He didn’t blame her. He was exhausted, too. The physical exertion of hours of lovemaking was enough to make even a big bear like himself tired. But he couldn’t sleep. Not when his thoughts insisted on constantly running a mile a minute through his head. He had a lot on his mind. He had to figure out the best way to reunite his fractured clan, and to make it clear that he was serious about banishing Simon. Challengers like Simon could not stay in the clan. Their seeds of discord would not be tolerated. He also had to find a way to introduce everyone to Amanda, and he had to figure that out sooner rather than later. He knew there would be a celebratory feast tonight, to commemorate his successful defense to the challenge against his position as alpha. Sawyer fully intended to bring Amanda along with him for the party.

He knew some clan members would be unhappy that he had chosen a human lifemate, but he didn’t care. He was alpha, after all. He could do whatever the heck he wanted, as long as it didn’t defy sacred clan law. And clan laws allowed for human lifemates.

Sawyer looked over at Amanda again, relishing her beauty and the peacefulness of her expression while she slept. Their whole relationship had been such a disjointed whirlwind of emotions and avoidance, but he wasn’t complaining. Now that things had come full circle, and they had both chosen to act on the feelings they had for each other, Sawyer knew that they had made the right choice.

As soon as they had mated the first time, he had felt a warmth filling his whole body, starting in his very core and spreading outward through his limbs like warm honey. He had never felt anything like it before, but he had known, instantly, that he had bonded to Amanda. He felt a little guilty for sleeping with her without first fully explaining the lifemate bond and its powerful potential to her—but only a little. He would never force Amanda to stay here, or try to pressure her into a life as an alpha’s mate if it wasn’t what she wanted. But he had a feeling, based on their conversations over the last several hours, that a life with him was exactly what she wanted.

She had told him at length about her childhood, and how she would spend hours in nature. She would run around in the forests near her parents’ home in the suburbs of Seattle, spending whole days just soaking in the trees and streams. She said she often earned herself a stern scolding from her father for disappearing without a trace for hours at a time, but that she never remedied her ways. The hours had seemed like minutes, she’d said, so how could she have realistically been expected to shorten her time out in the woods?

But, as it does to so many, life happened and drew her into the city and to a sterile, office career, devoid of time or space to enjoy the wilderness that she held close to her heart. She had realized, over the last several weeks, that she wanted nothing more than to never have to go back to a traditional office again. She wanted to work, yes. But she wanted to live free, too.

Sawyer knew just the job for her. His touring company desperately needed help with marketing. In fact, they desperately needed someone with some business savvy. Things had run along smoothly for a while, but as the business grew, Sawyer had quickly realized that the company needed help. No one in Frost Peak had much business expertise, though. His bears were mostly the type to earn their living through things like trapping and fishing. A few of the clan members had stores, but the stores were only there to serve Frost Peak and the clan members, so nothing had ever grown very large.

Sawyer was reluctant, though, to hire anyone from outside the clan. The danger of them discovering that this was a town of shifters, and of alerting someone on the outside, was simply too great. If Amanda wanted this job, it would be the perfect solution. She had the necessary skills, and she already knew about Frost Peak being a clan of shifters, so Sawyer wouldn’t have to worry about her freaking out and running to tell the police or something. And Amanda could still work in marketing, while living out in the wilderness. She would enjoy all of the aspects of the job that she loved, without any of the corporate stuffiness and rules that she hated. It was a win-win situation.

But Sawyer hadn’t said anything to her quite yet. He could tell she was still wrapping her mind around the idea of being with a bear shifter, and of possibly moving to Alaska. He wanted to give her some space to process everything that the day had brought, and to make her own decision about staying with him before he started muddying the water with job offers.

A stirring next to him brought his attention back to the present moment, and he looked over to see Amanda’s eyes slowly blinking open.

She smiled at him, then sat up suddenly and covered her mouth with her hands.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I’m so sorry! I must have fallen asleep right in the middle of our conversation.”

Sawyer grinned, thinking how adorable the pink in her cheeks was when she was embarrassed.

“It’s okay,” he said, reaching out and lacing his fingers with hers. “You needed the rest. Come here.”

He pulled her over on top of him, and then tilted his head to kiss her deeply on the lips. She giggled, the sweet, happy sound of a woman in love that had been missing from his life for far too long. As he pulled back to gaze into her eyes, he felt himself overcome by an overwhelming emotion. He tried to turn his head away, to push down the feelings, but the emotion was too strong. Don’t say it, he told himself. Don’t act like an idiot and rush things and scare her off. But he couldn’t hold back. He couldn’t keep the words in his heart from spilling over onto his lips.

“I love you, Amanda,” he said. The words hung in the forest air for a moment, with no other sound filling their ears than the distant chirping of birds and rustling of leaves in the wind.

She widened her eyes at him, surprised, and then smiled. “I love you, too,” she said. “I think I have since the moment I laid eyes on you back in that bar at the Ritz. You have no idea how happy I was to learn that you weren’t some snotty businessman who wears suits ninety-nine percent of the time.”

Sawyer laughed, and wrapped his arms around Amanda. “If you don’t like it when men wear suits, then you’re in luck. I would say about ninety-nine percent of the time I
don’t
wear suits.”

Amanda grinned. “Well, I’m sure you look amazing in a suit,” she said. “But you also look amazing in jeans and a t-shirt. Or in nothing.”

She lowered her voice as she said the last sentence, then dipped her lips to his, chewing gently on his bottom lip and giving him a suggestive look.

In response he sat up, bringing her up along with him so that she was sitting in his lap, facing him and straddling his hips with her legs.

“You look best in nothing at all,” he told her. “But, you might want to put your clothes back on for now. We’re about to head back into town for a party.”

She bit her bottom lip this time, looking doubtfully up at him. “A party?” she asked, her voice uncertain.

Sawyer laughed at the nervous tone in her voice and the worried expression on her face. “Don’t worry. It’ll be a fairly normal party. Drinks, food, music. A drunken toast or two. There won’t be any people walking around in bear form, if that’s what you’re worried about. The only difference from the type of parties that you’re used to is that those drunken toasts will be about my holding on to my title of alpha, instead of about so-and-so being, like, the most amazing person,
ever
.”

Sawyer did his best valley girl voice for the last few words of his explanation, and, as he had hoped, managed to draw another giggle from Amanda.

“Ok,” she said. “I’ll come with you to the party. But it better be as normal as you say, because if shit starts getting really weird I will have no qualms about walking out the door.”

“And I’ll have no qualms about following you out that door and throwing you down on my bed to remind you what happens when you sway that sexy ass in my face,” Sawyer said, earning himself a playful slap from Amanda.

“Come on,” she said. “Let’s get going.”

Not much later, Sawyer led Amanda up to the front door of his large cabin, and was surprised to see Chance sitting on the top step of the front porch, impatiently tapping his foot.

Chance raised an eyebrow when he saw Sawyer, who was still naked from losing his clothes at the fight earlier, walking up to the cabin. Sawyer groaned inwardly at the expression on Chance’s face. He hadn’t seen Chance looking this pissed since the time Sawyer borrowed his prized snowmobile and crashed it into a tree.

“What’s wrong?” Sawyer asked, skipping over any formalities. Trying to pretend nothing was wrong when something clearly was had never been his style.

“You smell like sex,” Chance observed, standing to his feet in a huff and casting a suspicious glance in Amanda’s direction.

“You jealous?” Sawyer asked with a chuckle, wrapping his arm around Amanda, whose face had once again turned a deep shade of pink.

Chance rolled his eyes. “No, I’m not jealous. Just surprised. I thought you had completely sworn off women.”

“Just women who are gold-diggers or power-diggers,” Sawyer said. “And Amanda is neither of those things. Amanda, this is Chance, one of my best friends. Chance, this is Amanda.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amanda said politely, casting a questioning glance up at Sawyer. No doubt, she was wondering why someone who was supposedly Sawyer’s best friend seemed like such an asshole.

“What are you doing here, Chance?” Sawyer asked. “Something tells me that an interest in my love life isn’t what brought you to my front porch.”

Chance snorted. “You’ve got that right. I came to wait for you because I knew you’d eventually show up here. Where the hell have you been, man? I looked for you for hours after the fight and no one in town had seen you.”

“You said yourself I smell like sex,” Sawyer said. “Where do you think I’ve been?”

“Sawyer!” Amanda said, her cheeks going from bright pink to deep red.

“Sorry,” Sawyer said, glancing down at Amanda. “It’s not a big deal. Bears can smell when someone has freshly mated. We all take it in stride, for the most part. Just like we don’t make a big deal about someone walking around naked after they shifted and ruined their clothes. It’s all just a natural part of life.”

Amanda seemed momentarily appeased, so Sawyer turned his attention back to Sawyer

“What’s the problem?” Sawyer asked. “The party’s not for another hour or so.”

“The problem is that there’s still a lot of unhappy rumbling going on in the clan,” Chance said. “A lot of people are really unhappy that you let Simon live. They’re saying that it proves how weak you are. And then they said that the fact that you disappeared right after making that decision proves you’re a coward. They think it means you didn’t have the backbone to face up to it.”

“Well, as soon as they see that I now have a mate, they’ll know the real reason I was gone,” Sawyer said with a shrug.

“You’re bringing her to the party tonight?” Chance asked, his voice incredulous.

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

“Sawyer, she’s human.”

“And?”

“There’s already a big divide in the clan. People are upset about your not killing Simon, and they’re going to be even more upset when they realize that you’ve decided to take a human lifemate,” Chance said, then gave Amanda an apologetic glance. “No offense, ma’am. I’m sure you’re a wonderful person, but a lot of shifters are wary of full humans.”

Amanda didn’t say anything in response to Chance, and Sawyer felt anger bubbling up in his chest.

“I don’t really care what anyone else thinks,” Sawyer said, his voice sounding like a low growl. “I’m alpha, and I’m a damn good alpha. I take good care of this clan, and I wouldn’t mate with a human if I thought there was any chance that she was going to pose a danger to the clan. I’ve sacrificed so much for these shifters, and I deserve a little fucking happiness of my own.”

Sawyer could feel Amanda cringing next to him at his angry tone, but Chance didn’t back down. Chance had known Sawyer for pretty much his entire life, and had seen Sawyer fly off the handle hundreds of times.