The Bear In Me: A BBW Bear Shifter Romance Read Online Free Page B

knocked again, and she made a groaning sound as she hopped into the living room.
     
    “Shit,” She half-murmured to herself, struggling out of the bedroom and trying to get the last button on the top of her jeans as she viciously dried her dirty blonde hair with the other arm.
    When she opened the door Sam seemed equally taken aback and half-pivoted in place as if he meant to come back later. He had freshly shaved and even his hair was a bit tidier, combed over to one side, as if the wind had gotten hold of him in a single direction. He still had on a plaid shirt, but this one was new, and she could almost make out the crisp seams. There was something else too – he smelled differently.
     
    That morning when they’d first met, he had smelled like she imagined lumberjacks ought to smell like: wood and sap and the faint caustic whiff of gasoline, the rugged blend of sweat and coffee. It wasn’t unpleasant, per se. She had learned her own scent could be quite powerful, especially when she was in form and the Bear had awakened in her.
     
    But now he smelled more…what was the word? She hated that the only thing she could think of was human . The lingering lye of soap, paraffin from a candle. It was a strange exotic and brisk smell, that reminded her of the river outside which was like a constant humming in her mind, always in the background: reliable and consistent.
     
    She remembered herself and quickly urged him inside, hurtling more apologies as she disappeared back into the bedroom and told him to make himself at home.
     
    “There’s no rush.” Sam said, his hands behind his back. “I phoned Lily at the café, she’s just finishing up for the night and says she’ll join us at the bar in fifteen or so.”
     
    Emily came back out of the bedroom, fidgeting with a bra-strap and saw Sam turn away again. He’d clearly noticed her lack of preparedness earlier, and she cursed herself silently for having forgotten to put on a bra. She didn’t have huge breasts but they were well proportioned, especially when framed in the dozen or so T-shirts she’d brought with her – all of them, she now realized with some dismay, tighter and more revealing of her cleavage than was the norm around Fairbanks.
     
    Even now Sam was carefully avoiding letting his eyes slip to the V-neck of her collar, where the tops of her firm breasts still glimmered with the after-effects of her shower. She dried her hair again, raising her arms above her head, and the T-shirt hiked up again, revealing the smooth tan of her mid-riff and belly-button, which peeked out above the low-cut waist of her jeans.
     
    “Well, let’s not keep her waiting.” She said enthusiastically, pulling on a black zip-up hoodie with the Lulu Lemon insignia strategically placed stitched into the sleeves.
     
    Sam reached out suddenly and caught her by the arm, and she was surprised at the strength of his grip. She turned, flustered, and saw that same mischievous look on his face she had seen earlier in the café. He reached down, still holding her by the arm, and picked up the purple towel she’d thrown willy-nilly onto the back of the sofa and drew her closer.
     
    She was too surprised and taken aback to resist, and suddenly closer to him than she’d ever been. She could feel the heat of his skin against hers as he laughed and plopped the towel down on her head and began to knead gently at her still damp hair.
     
    “Can’t let you go out like that.” he warned. “It may be summer but Fairbanks summer isn’t California summer. You’ll catch a cold for sure and I’d feel responsible.”
     
    She didn’t say anything as he continued to knead her scalp, his brow furrowed in serious attention to detail as he tried to dry every lock of her hair and gently touched her elbow for her to spin so he could dry the back of her head. She let him and felt a tingling sensation that started in her toes and ran all the way up to the small of her back and into her