Chapter 5: Bearish Manners
1422 Words
"What are you-" before she could finish her question he straightened and stepped back.
"Easy there, you should watch where you're going. You okay?" the man's voice was as rough as his hands.
Not unpleasant, just deep and very, very masculine. She squirmed under his gaze and wondered if it was possible to die of humiliation twice in one day. But back up a sec...
Did he just sniff her? Maybe she imagined that? She looked up into impossibly dark brown eyes and was once again stunned silent.
His eyes were like molten chocolate, the sinfully expensive kind. The planes of his face gave way to full luscious lips that she'd just bet tasted like heaven. And he had the cutest little dimple in his chin.
He cleared his throat and her gaze went back to his. Was that a smile playing at the corner of his mouth? She couldn't be sure, captivated as she was by his now, nearly black eyes. Recognition flared between them, and Leya gasped.
"Uh, sorry, I was just going to get a new bathing suit-" she shut her mouth abruptly.
"Were you now? Well, you be careful," he grumbled the words and turned away from her.
Leya shivered unconsciously against the sudden cold that came with his departure. She could have kicked herself. Could she have acted any more like an i***t? Ugh.
She looked down at her dowdy clothing. Maybe if she didn't dress like a circus tent, he would've done more than just glance at her and run away. Yeah, right.
She narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She was not going to let a man, any man, dictate how she felt about herself. She wanted to change her wardrobe for herself.
Not because Gary had called her fat, or because this gorgeous stranger left her tongue-tied. With new determination in her step, she took the elevator and headed to the exclusive boutique.
"Can I help you find something, miss?" the question was asked by an older woman with a brilliant smile as Leya entered the hotel's one boutique and scanned the rows of colorful dresses and flimsy underthings.
She had never tried to dress for anything other than camouflage, and she had no idea where to begin.
"Yes, I, uh, think I could use your help," she smiled and told the woman what she wanted.
The saleswoman seemed to be blessed with a perfect eye for her body shape and coloring! An hour later, Leya had several items lined up for purchase and was still trying on more.
"Ah, miss! Yes! Yes, this is the one for you! The yellow looks wonderful with your lovely hair, it accentuates your blonde highlights! Oh, mama those men out there best be on guard!" The lightly accented voice of the woman who ran the Island Body Boutique smiled and complimented Leya.
For the first time in her adult life, Leya felt wonderful. She turned around in front of the full-length mirror and could hardly believe it. The cut and color of the swimsuit looked amazing on her full figure. She'd have never guessed yellow for her hair and skin tone, but the woman was right.
She added the swimsuit to a similarly cut red one along with a few sundresses, and some of those flimsy panties and bras she would normally have never dared to buy.
Leya grinned wickedly. She had money in her savings and had never splurged on herself. She justified the purchases as necessary for her vacation and her new life motto! Leya was going to please herself this trip! Yep, this is gonna be great! Gleefully walking down the hall, she went to her hotel room to change.
She'd spent three hours total in the boutique! Thank goodness the hotel sported a Bear Claw Bakery! Liandra, the saleswoman, had gotten her an iced mocha latte about an hour ago. Otherwise she'd have been dead on her feet.
It was too late to swim, but there was always tomorrow! Liandra told her about the light buffet and live band at the tiki lounge right on the beach, it was there every night from five till midnight. It was seven now, and Leya had skipped lunch in favor of shopping.
She smiled. Second thing on my vacation-to-do-list, let my hair down!
***
She's here. Mate. Mine. Claim. Now. Marcus' Bear was practically bellowing in his mind for him to go get the woman.
The beast had no problem recognizing her as his mate. Ugly clothes or not. Not that Marcus really gave a s**t about what she wore. She had the most beautiful eyes he'd ever seen. s**t! She's a normal.
What was he going to do? The woman was a stranger, a human for f**k's sake! He couldn't just walk up to her and say, hey there, my name is Marcus, and I can change into a big furry bear, who by the way, has chosen you for his mate, so do you want to come home with me and get to work on making some babies? This was so f*****g bad.
Marcus paced back and forth across the wide floors of his luxury suite. His Bear roared again. Quiet! He demanded. He needed to think. To come up with a plan.
Hell, he needed a f*****g drink too, but first he needed a minute to regain his control. His Bear was too close for him to leave the room.
It took all his strength and concentration to wrestle his Bear back to a relatively passive state, but Marcus knew it was too late. He'd sniffed his mate, and he wanted her. Now.
The buxom beauty didn't know it yet, but she was his. Time for that plan. Oh, he had one alright. The first thing he wanted to do was peel off those ugly clothes to see just what she was hiding underneath.
Then he wanted to run his hands all over her. Quickly followed by his mouth. Then his tongue. Yes. Licking was good. He'd make sure his mate was ready. Hot and wet just for him and he'd lick her sweet, sweet honey. Swallow it all down. Grrr. Mine.
Easy now. His Bear roared. Clearly the beast thought he should move his ass. No. Slow it down, pal.
He should figure out his approach before he started imagining the curves that he instinctively knew his mate was hiding. He'd make sure she knew just how beautiful she was to him. That would be a f*****g priority.
Marcus groaned. He closed his eyes, reciting multiplication tables. He tried to ignore the way his d**k instantly flared to life at the mere thought of his mate's lush curves. f**k, his shorts were getting damned uncomfortable.
He knew he was in serious trouble if just imagining what her body would look like caused him to react like a green teenager. If her body proved half as lovely as her face, he knew he'd find heaven there.
She was made for him. Literally. There was no doubt in his mind she was his one true and fated mate. He smoothed a hand over his chest, his heart hammered away regardless of his efforts to calm down.
He simply couldn't stop thinking about those sexy as hell eyes of hers. They had to be the most intense blue he'd ever seen. So blue they looked violet.
But what else? A mate was for life. Surely, they'd have more than just s*x between them. He wondered if her mind was as quick and bright as her eyes promised.
The brief physical contact he shared with her in the hallway when she'd walked into him was enough to shoot awareness to every single one of his nerve endings.
He was shaking like a boy just remembering the feel of her! Would she be as soft as her shapely curves promised? Sure, she tried to hide them underneath that ridiculously oversized blouse she wore, but Marcus knew better.
He was just as anxious to know her mind. She'd been aware of him, he could smell her arousal, but she'd retained the ability to speak. Unlike him.
And the way she took him to task in the lobby for staring? She was feisty! He liked that. Marcus couldn't wait to verbally spar with her. Almost as much as he couldn't wait to get his hands on her.
Marcus wanted to strip her slowly and run his hands over every single inch of her. f**k, eight times fifteen equals...
- Writer
