Page 59 of The Bear's Christmas Wish
She leaned in to nuzzle his neck again, her tongue darting out to taste his skin while he returned to the sweet torture of her breasts. The dual sensation of giving and receiving pleasure threatened to overwhelm him.
Then Sarah’s hands were at his belt, unbuckling it with surprising dexterity. They parted momentarily, helping each other shed the rest of their clothing until they stood naked before the fire, skin gilded by its warm glow.
Michael took a moment simply to look at her. All soft curves. Beautiful. Perfect. His.
They came together again, hands exploring newly revealed skin, every touch a discovery. He guided her down onto the soft rug before the fire, lowering himself beside her.
“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered, his voice thick with emotion.
He settled between her thighs, gently spreading them wider before slipping a finger inside her. Her inner walls clenched around his finger, and he pushed deeper. Michael watched her face as he stroked her, mesmerized by the play of pleasure across her features. Sarah bit down on her bottom lip, her eyes locked with his as he added a second finger, curling them to find that spot that made her gasp.
When he felt her trembling, close to release, he withdrew his fingers despite her sound of protest. Kneeling between her parted thighs, he lowered his head and tasted her for the first time, his tongue flat against her mound.
Sarah cried out, her back arching off the rug. Michael lost himself in her taste, in the sounds she made as he licked andsucked at her most intimate flesh. He slipped his fingers back inside her, working in tandem with his mouth until she was writhing beneath him, incoherent pleas falling from her lips.
When her release came, it was with a shuddering cry that echoed through the cabin. Michael gentled his touch but didn’t stop completely, drawing out her pleasure until she tugged at his shoulders, urging him upward.
He moved over her, bracing his weight on his forearms. Sarah reached between them, wrapping her hand around his hardness and guiding him to her entrance. The first touch of her slick heat against him nearly undid Michael completely.
With monumental effort, he maintained control as he slowly buried himself inside her, inch by exquisite inch. When he was fully seated within her, he paused, savoring the moment he had waited for his whole life. This was more than physical pleasure; this was a primal recognition of his mate.
“Michael,” Sarah whispered, her voice thick with emotion that mirrored his own.
He began to move then, pulling out almost completely before thrusting back into her welcoming body. Each stroke built the pleasure higher, stoking the fire between them. His hands roamed her body, caressing her breasts, his mouth finding her nipples once more to lick and suck them to taut peaks.
Sarah’s hands were everywhere. Stroking his back, threading through his hair, tweaking his nipples in a way that made him groan against her skin. When her fingers dipped between them to fondle the place where they joined, Michael jerked forward, his rhythm faltering for a moment.
He moved faster, harder now, his control slipping away as the pleasure built to impossible heights. Gripping her knee, healtered the angle of his thrusts, lunging deeper into her slick heat, her inner muscles clenching around him.
Michael reached between them, his fingers finding the sensitive bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs. He circled it gently, watching her face as pleasure overtook her once more. The sight of her coming beneath him was his undoing. With one final thrust, he followed her over the edge, his release pulsing deep inside her as he called her name.
Afterward, he collapsed beside her, gathering her close against his chest. Their heartbeats gradually slowed from racing to steady, their breathing evening out in the quiet of the cabin. The fire crackled beside them, casting dancing shadows across their entwined bodies.
Michael pressed a kiss to Sarah’s temple as his bear stirred contentedly inside him, supremely satisfied that they had claimed their mate.
But more than that, Michael felt a profound sense of peace. Content in the knowledge that his search for his mate was over. “I never thought I’d find you,” he whispered against her hair.
Sarah tilted her face up to his, her eyes soft with emotion. “I wasn’t even looking. After my divorce, I never expected to find love again,” she admitted. “But here you are.”
“Here I am,” he agreed, tightening his arms around her. “And here I’ll stay.”
Outside, snow began to fall again, blanketing the world in pristine white. But inside the cabin, wrapped in each other’s arms before the fire, Michael and Sarah had found their own kind of magic—one that had nothing to do with shifting forms and everything to do with two hearts, two mates, finding each other at last.
Chapter Twenty-Four – Sarah
Sarah woke with a start, heart thudding as she tried to make sense of her surroundings in the pre-dawn darkness. This wasn’t her bedroom. The mattress felt different, firmer beneath her body, and the scent—pine and something distinctly male—wasn’t the smell of her own sheets.
Then it all came flooding back.
Michael. The bear. The mate bond. Making love in front of the fire before moving to his bed.
She turned onto her side, finding his solid form next to her, his chest rising and falling in the dim light filtering through the cabin windows. He was real. This was real. Sarah reached out, her fingertips tracing the contours of his chest, following the trail of dark hair that disappeared beneath the sheet draped low across his hips.
Michael’s hand moved suddenly, capturing hers and bringing it to his lips. The gentle press of his mouth against her palm sent a shiver down her spine.
“Did I wake you?” she whispered.
“No,” he replied, his voice husky with sleep. “I’ve been awake for a while, listening to your breathing to remind myself this is real.”
