Authors: Ashley Hunter
It was seconds before she slid an arm around his neck and licked her tongue across his lips. Ben growled from somewhere deep in his chest, and hungrily took her tongue into his mouth, massaging it with his own, his body pressing against hers.
Kathleen moaned against his mouth, hugging him to her, ignoring the fading pains as he pressed her rear against the side of the tub.
Just when she was about to reach for the front of his pants, he broke the kiss and forced himself back two steps.
“No! Kathleen, I’m sorry. I can’t.”
“It’s the shirt, isn’t it?” she asked.
“I’ll take it off. Look, I can make it okay.”
“No,” he shouted and averted his eyes as she removed the shirt, exposing her plump breasts to him.
“What is it?” she asked.
“You want this just as much as I do. I can
see
it.”
Ben put a hand over his erection and groaned.
“Ben, what’s going on?”
“I don’t deserve you, okay? I don’t deserve to be with any woman.”
“Why? How can you say that?”
Chapter 5
Ben shook his head, stumbling back a few more steps to lean against the wall. In that moment of emotional vulnerability, Kathleen felt very exposed.
Now she regretted having tossed the t-shirt to the side. With few other options, she covered the front of her breasts with her arm.
“You wouldn’t understand,” he said.
“They never understand.”
“Who are they?” she asked, worried this may take a turn for the psycho after all. She didn’t suspect it could, he was the nicest man she’d ever met.
If he wanted to hurt her, kill her, or do anything, he’d had a ton of chances. It didn’t make sense for him to be doing this now.
“I dragged you here. I got you into this now. I might as well show you. Otherwise, you’ll think I’m lying, or that it’ll be different. Well it won’t. You’ll be just like them, and you’ll leave.”
“Show me… what?”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I never meant for this to happen. I do want you. I do.”
“I want you, too, Ben.”
He looked at her, that sadness once again in his eyes, and he shook his head.
“You won’t.”
Before she could ask anything else, Ben grew. The fingers of his hands stretched, his arms bulking with muscle even as they became longer. His face pulled forward into an animal’s muzzle, and brown fur sprouted all over his body.
In seconds, he was a massive bear, its arms and legs having torn his uniform to shreds.
“You’re beautiful,” she said, surprised by her own words. They had just slipped out, but even as she realized what she’d said, she knew it wasn’t a lie.
No wonder the others had screamed and left. They were weak, easily frightened girls. Not Kathleen. She’d been through too much.
The bear stretched out its neck and opened its jaws. The teeth clacked as he snapped the jaws shut again, and he shrunk back down to his normal human self.
“You didn’t scream.”
“Mm-mm,” she said, shaking her head. The tatters of his clothes left almost nothing to the imagination, and Kathleen let her eyes roam over his exposed body.
“You’re not running.”
“No sir, I am not.”
“Don’t I frighten you?”
“You’re the most incredible man I’ve ever met. I’ve been through too much in my life to let something small like this get in the way.”
Ben smiled and stepped toward her.
“Something small, huh?”
“Tiny.”
“Tiny?”
“Teeny.”
“You really know what to say to make a man feel special.”
As he came closer, Kathleen reached out and took him by the hand.
“Let me show you how special I think you are.”
Ben stepped forward, and they embraced one another. Their lips immediately found one another again, and this time he didn’t hold anything back.
Their hands roamed all over one another’s bodies. She removed the last remains of his clothes, and he carefully slipped her panties down her legs and free of her feet.
With all of his superhuman strength, he lifted her up and slowly dipped her into the tub. The heat of the tub enveloped her body, making every inch of her tingle.
Reaching up, she pulled him into the huge tub with her. His wet body, slick with the soap and bubbles, rested against her own. She ran her legs along his own, taking in the delicious sensation of feeling his skin against her own.
Already he was hard, and the more they kissed and touched one another, the more she needed to show him just how much she wanted him.
Ben locked his mouth to hers as he slipped himself inside of her, and she moaned, her body arching against him. Eager to feel more of her, he started a quick rhythm of withdraw and thrust.
The water sloshed around them, spilling to the floor, the bubbles frothing around their bodies as they made love. Kathleen made sure to kiss him fiercely the entire time, wanting to be sure he knew how much she wanted everything he was.
The orgasm took her by surprise, and she cried out with the force of it. Ben groaned in surprise, grabbing onto her, his orgasm swiftly rising up to join her own.
They thrust and pushed against one another, working to get him deeper inside, until finally they collapsed in an exhausted, soaking heap.
As he rested his head against the side of the tub, catching his breath, she gingerly ran her fingers along the sides of his face, tracing the edge of his ear. It was the face of a man she’d never let herself be without.
Kathleen sighed happily, rested her head back against the tub, and let sleep take her, knowing she was safe.
***
PREVIEW OF ‘THE MILITARY BEAR’ BY ASHLEY HUNTER
Chapter 1
Elle Roberts wasn’t what you’d call a supremely confident woman. Granted, she was comfortable with her looks, she was comfortable with herself—but she wasn’t exactly the type to put herself
out
there.
She lived her life in a small town growing up. The same people during elementary school became the people she knew throughout high school. She had one boyfriend, a sweet guy who loved art more than anything; it just took her some time to realize that the list that included ‘anything’ also included her. So when he told her he was going to a college far off to pursue his dream as an artist, she was broken hearted when he said he’d be going alone.
Still, she didn’t want to appear pushy or clingy and so when he broke it off, Elle smiled, gave him a warm hug, and wished him luck. Not long after he left did she finally decide to leave that small town herself.
There were too many eyes that knew about her relationship, too many people who talked about how it was ‘such a shame’ and ‘they looked so cute together.’ So when her Uncle offered her a place to stay in the city, Elle sort of made a mad-dash decision and left.
If one could die from culture shock, Elle would have been six feet under after her first couple of weeks within that concrete jungle. People went about their business without caring about her, cars and taxis zoomed back and forth in an endless chase of clients and destinations and the only thing that Elle could truly register after a few nights of restless sleep; the city was
loud.
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like to come home?”
Her mother had asked her one late night after Elle had called, eyes clogged with tears and nose raw from wiping with tissues.
“I was talking to Maria, she said that Alex would be visiting in the fall.”
Alex…
The name alone made Elle’s chest ache but she was already shaking her head at the idea.
“I’m staying, mom. I don’t want to see him.”
“I don’t like the idea of you being out there on your own, even if your Uncle said you’d be taken care of in that penthouse. It’s dangerous.”
“Yeah, but…” Elle had said before she peered out the window of her new bedroom.
The lights below were astounding, as if she had been launched into space to live among a galaxy of stars.
“I like it here. I’ll be fine.”
“I’ll be fine…”
The words sounded somewhat droll now that Elle found herself in a large and very expensive looking lobby. Everything about the place looked immaculate, down to the marble tile, the rugs, and the furniture placed exquisitely all around. Elle had never felt so out of place in all her life.
Her cousin, one of her Uncle’s daughters, had recommended her to work there after they helped her update her resume.
Carla had pursed her lips at the document, blue eyes skimming Elle’s life work before smiling and giving her a nod.
“You’ve got quite a lot of experience, cousin.” Carla had said and Elle had beamed up at her happily.
“I’m sure you’ll be able to fit in nicely.”
Sure enough, just a week later (after a month in the city), Elle found herself in her best interview attire in one of the most high-class places she had ever seen.
The woman sitting in the reception desk had eyed her up and down once before directing her to a seat and with a professional smile that consisted of nearly blinding white teeth, told Elle to wait to be called on.
She had been waiting for nearly fifteen minutes and could feel her nerves continue to bite and chew and gnaw at her stomach. Glancing down at herself, Elle frowned. This was the best skirt she had, but it was old and it had a couple of stains on it that had been hard to remove.
Even her shirt and jacket, while she had believed were stylish, looked drab compared to the outfit worn by the woman in reception—and to her growing mortification—the other women and men that walked in and out of the lobby.
They all looked like models. Fresh off the cover of some fashion magazine!
And yet there she was, sitting in ill-fitted clothing, several sizes bigger than the toothpick-slim women walking around, and with her mess of wild brown curls pinned down to a half-knot in the back of her head.
Fifteen minutes became twenty and Elle snuck a glance at the nearest clock.
What was taking so long? Was she being tested? Was she being watched right now?
“Just be yourself, okay?”
Carla had informed her earlier that week.
“It’s a secretary position and so you’ll be expected to behave naturally. Your employer is actually one of our biggest clients, but don’t feel pressured, he’s really not that bad.”
“He sounds like a big deal…”
Elle had laughed nervously.
“He’s a Sheikh from Dubai, and the guy is really well off. His family’s business has been in liaison with ours for a long time, so I have no doubt that you’ll do well.”
“Elle Roberts?”
Elle shot off from her seat, more out of alarm than intention and when she searched for the source of the voice she was suddenly under the sharp scrutiny of an extremely well dressed silver-blonde woman.
This woman was all angles and impressionable colors. A blouse of deep vermilion swathed over her pale skin and shimmered beneath the light of the chandeliers above. Black pencil skirt hugged her legs and enhanced her features and no doubt those were ‘chimmy choos’ (or whatever they were called) gracing her feet. Elle felt so ridiculously underdressed.
The woman noticed. With a pointed look at her skirt, the woman fixed her an unimpressed glare before turning with her chin.
“This way.”
Elle followed quickly, nearly stumbling over her heels as she struggled to catch up to the woman’s strut.
“We’ve looked over your resume,” the woman spoke without warning.
“Oh! Uh…”
“Impressive work, considering. Of course, we did expect someone… different. Your credentials are more than enough to get you hired.” The woman said, never slowing down her pace as she led Elle down a hallway that was just crawling with unbelievably good-looking people.
“Now, the Sheikh will be waiting for you to assist in a few small errands, more to gauge how much you can take at once. He’ll be expecting his coffee as well as his first ‘rules’ of the day. You’ll be speaking with Avani—the Sheikh’s first secretary and she’ll be giving you a rundown as well as your training of what you need to do, so save your questions for her.”
“You should know that while you are here, you need to maintain a certain standard of appearance,” she said this as she shot Elle a look of thinly veiled disdain.
“The Sheikh is a very important figure in business and his secretary should look the part.”
“Oh, of course…” Elle muttered, cheeks burning.
“I’ll have you know that you’re not the first woman who’s walked in here expecting a simple job. The Sheikh’s already fired his five previous secretaries, after Avani, of course.”
Elle blinked curiously as they took another turn down a hallway.
“Wait… what happened to Avani?”
“Ugh, she went and got herself married and now she’s pregnant.” The woman sighed as though the whole situation was a huge inconvenience.
Elle was nearly baffled at the reaction.
“Which was a huge deal considering since the Sheikh has been giving all other women a hard time. But he’s absolutely gorgeous so you should count your lucky stars or something.”
“Uh…” Elle was at a loss for words.
“Sorry, I never got your name?”
“Alliana.” The woman said, “But you won’t need to remember it, since we’ll probably never see each other again. Here we are.”
She paused for a moment after they arrived to a long set of double doors of a deep mahogany.
“Avani is inside and waiting for you, so do as your told and maybe you’ll be lucky. Ta’.”
And just like that Alliana was sauntering off, expensive heels clacking away. Elle watched her disappear down a hallway before glancing back at the door.
With a sigh, she leaned over and lifted a hand to knock before she changed her mind and grasped the fine sterling handle.
With a turn and push, Elle made her way inside the room and nearly gasped when she beheld her surroundings. The office was beautifully done and since it was near the top of the building, immense glass windows became the walls near the far end.
The view outside was spectacular, and the light of the day glanced off from the surrounding buildings made it look all the more enchanting. Before Elle could find herself entranced, her green eyes managed to fall over the only person sitting in the suite.
Elle had been told she would meet Avani, but the figure lying on the white couch adjacent to the windows was certainly not Avani, but a very well dressed man.
He was covered in a fine suit of a beautiful shade of cream and burgundy trim. He had an arm over his eyes so Elle couldn’t see his face clearly, but he looked to be at ease. Long legs resting over the white cushions, and his broad chest was moving gently, he looked like he was napping.
Elle took in a cautionary breath, uncertain on what to do. Her first instinct was to turn around and leave, cursing herself for not having knocked earlier.
To her surprise, Elle wasn’t given an opportunity.
“Are you going to just stand there all day or are you going to come here?” The man spoke, not moving an inch aside from speaking. His voice was an attractive baritone with a lilt to his words that reminded Elle of a British accent, yet he rolled his tongue over some of the words pleasantly.
Elle was spurred forward, taking a few steps deeper into the suite before she was standing a respectful distance from the couch.
Finally, he lifted his arm from his eyes, thick brows arching as he beheld her.
“And you are?”
“Elle Roberts…?” Elle began, trying not to squirm visibly.
“I’m starting as the new secretary for the Sheikh Zayn Ab…Ab…”
“Zayn Abd al Malik,” he replied, his tongue rolling over the name with almost lazy precision.
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