Chapter Twelve

Mira could lose herself in this, in the hot glide and press of the kiss, in the way her eyes fluttered closed, blocking out anything but the sensations they were chasing together. She reached up, her hand finding his cheek. As she traced her fingers down and along his jawline, she felt like she would know him anywhere, know him blindfolded, as long as she could kiss him. As long as she could touch him like this.

Her plans for tonight had included sex, but now she thought she would be happy with hour after hour of kissing. She’d probably want to move on eventually, of course, but even as turned-on as she was, she wasn’t in any rush. Something told her that she didn’t have to hurry. Wade would be here. They would have time. Not every cookie had to be grabbed when it first came out of the oven.

Only one thing made her pull back, and she did it breathlessly and with a sharp pang of regret.

It did give her the chance to see what a glorious mess they’d already started making of each other, though. Wade’s hair was mussed, his mouth smudged from her lipstick. He looked as wonderstruck as she felt.

Mira couldn’t resist trailing her fingers through his hair. It was so soft, like short-cut silk.

“Before we get too carried away,” she said, like she hadn’t already been thorough swept—and kissed—off her feet, “can I see you as a bear again? I feel like I didn’t get to properly appreciate it. And you did want to show me.”

“I did.” Wade exhaled. He reached up for her hand, the one that was still entangle in his hair, and laced his fingers through hers. “I do. Just give me a second to catch my breath.” He grinned. “But my polar bear’s delighted that you asked.”

“It’s separate from you? Like a pet?”

He seesawed his free hand. “Not like a pet. More like—an inner voice. Like those old cartoons where someone has an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other, only it’s not good or bad, it’s just human or animal, conscious mind or pure instinct. Shifters always have a human on one shoulder and an animal on the other. I can talk to the polar bear side. Technically, I guess I can talk to the human side too, but since that’s basically what my conscious mind is ....”

“It just feels like you thinking.”

“Exactly.” He let go of her hand and stood up, stretching. “The change will be fast,” he warned her. “I should have thought to tell you that last time. Sorry, I’ve never done this before.”

This had to be the only date where the guy who was apologizing for being too quick and admitting he was inexperienced was talking about revealing his secret ability to turn into a polar bear .

“I’m prepared this time,” Mira promised. “Go for it.”

Boom : polar bear. He wasn’t kidding about the change being effectively instantaneous.

As odd as it was to have a polar bear standing in her living room, Mira didn’t feel a single quiver of fear. Why would she? She knew that it was Wade. Even if his instincts were at the forefront in this form, he was still himself. If she needed any proof of that, all she had to do was remember how he’d turned human again the second she’d screamed. As soon as he’d realized how startled she was, he had wanted to make her feel better.

Those were Wade’s instincts. That was who he was, so it was who his polar bear was too.

Mira came closer, soaking in every detail of Wade’s thick, snow-white fur. His eyes and nose were both a velvety black, making them stand out vividly.

There was so much sheer power standing in front her. He was huge , his strength obvious even in repose. He must have weighed close to a thousand pounds, and she was amazed the floorboards weren’t groaning beneath him. She had seen polar bears before, but only on TV or from a distance, at a zoo. She had never been within inches of one.

She had never petted one and felt its bristly fur beneath her hand.

It wiped out the part of her brain that was capable of irony. All she could do was marvel at the unbelievable majesty of the wild creature before her.

... Of course, she was also a cat owner. Right now, living in her home and sleeping on top of her head at night, was an animal that was basically just a slightly smaller lion. She was used to looking at something built for power and might and cooing over it and singing it silly songs.

So in a way, she was prepared for this. She knew how to react to polar bear Wade once the initial awe started to pass.

She wrapped her arms around him, even though his shoulders were so wide she couldn’t manage a full embrace.

“You are so cute ,” Mira breathed. “You have the most adorable black button eyes I’ve ever seen. You are a teddy bear of a polar bear. You are unbelievable .”

She wished that Wade didn’t leave his Santa hat at Honey Brook. She could put it on top of his polar bear’s head. The red would really pop against the white of his fur.

Wade didn’t seem to mind that she found his polar bear as adorable as she did impressive. She had to make herself stop eventually, though. As much as she liked this form, Wade’s human one had the edge—and several definite advantages.

She let herself nuzzle into Wade’s fur one more time, giving him a tight hug, and then said, “You can change back now.”

She was still getting used to how incredibly fast those shifts happened. She’d barely finished telling Wade to change back when her arms were around him instead.

Even better .

“Amazing,” she said contentedly.

It came out even raspier than before, but that was okay. It didn’t matter that her voice was completely shot now. They were about to officially move on to the part of the night that wouldn’t require much talking. From here on out, she could let her reactions speak for themselves.

She let her hands stray back into Wade’s hair.

“Anything else you need to tell me?” she said, whispering so that this last bit would be easier on her throat. “Any other big revelations?”

She meant it as a joke, but there was a strange flicker of light in Wade’s eyes. A combination of amusement and ... longing?

“There is, actually,” he said, kissing her forehead and then the bridge of her nose. “But I think it can wait until you’re in better shape to have a real conversation. It’s a good revelation. I think it is, anyway.”

Mira squinted at him, a sudden suspicion dawning. “You’re not .... Okay, don’t laugh at me, but you’re not the real Santa or anything, are you?”

Wade didn’t entirely manage to suppress his laughter, but she would give him credit for trying: only the tiniest, most strangled chuckle was audible through his pressed-together lips.

“I had to ask!” Mira said. “You know that’s exactly how this story could go. And you’ve already made me believe in magic.”

“I promise I’m not the real Santa. And that as far as I know, there’s not a real Santa.” He paused for a second, tilting his head like he was listening to some distant radio signal being piped in, and then added, “My polar bear wants to tell you that since it’s an Arctic animal, it feels like it would have noticed Santa by now if he were real. Please disregard the fact that since I’ve never been to the North Pole, it hasn’t either. It’s feeling pretty confident anyway.”

“I’m sure it would know,” Mira said loyally. But as fiendishly cute as Wade’s polar bear was, right now her mind was on something else. “All right, if it’s not Santa-related, I can wait to find out what your other big surprise is. But I don’t want to wait for everything.”

She rested her hand against his chest, feeling his heartbeat against her palm. The way it sped up told her he knew exactly what she was talking about—and that he agreed.

He leaned down and kissed her again. This time, they didn’t stop.

The only thing she didn’t know was how they would get up off the floor. She couldn’t imagine breaking away from his kiss again, not for something as obviously trivial as standing up, but on the other hand, they did need to get to the bedroom at some point ... right?

Never mind , she thought in a daze, as one of Wade’s hands landed on her bare thigh and pushed her sweater dress up higher. The floor is good. The floor is great.

Who needed beds?

Wade, apparently, but he had the solution in hand. Instead of stopping everything to ask her to stand up, he simply swept her off her feet—literally. He carried her over the threshold like a bride, and the desperate kissing never stopped for even a second.

Mira had never been picked up like that before. She’d always thought of herself as—to put it gently— sturdy . Curvy. Wade made her feel almost weightless.

Maybe because I’m so happy I could float up off the floor all on my own.

She was surprised she didn’t hover as he laid her down on the bed. But then she didn’t have the brain space to be surprised about anything at all, because Wade was peeling the sweater dress off of her.

For a moment, she felt a flush of embarrassment at her plain, functional underwear. When she’d gotten dressed today, she hadn’t expected this to happen. She had sexy lingerie! But you wouldn’t know it from the plain cotton boyshorts and sturdy beige bra she had on right now.

She was half-tempted to apologize for it, and it wasn’t her fading voice that stopped her. It was the look on Wade’s face.

That was not the look of a man who felt disappointed with the present he had just unwrapped. He looked enraptured , like every inch of her uncovered skin was the most fascinating, erotic thing he’d ever seen.

Well, in that case, Mira was happy to help him see more of it. She pushed herself up on her elbows and reached back to unhook her bra.

But she wanted to do some looking herself, and Wade had been so focused on her that he hadn’t taken any of his own clothes off yet. Mira gestured to him, and—with uncanny accuracy—he realized what she meant.

He got everything off quickly, but she still had time to savor his golden-brown tan and the lean, hard-working muscle of his frame. He really was an Adonis. It was a crime to hide all of this beneath a cheap Santa suit.

But then, that did mean she was the only one who got to see—and touch—everything, and that was pretty appealing ....

She tossed her underwear on the floor as he rejoined her in bed, and then it was just the warm, sweet need of their two bodies pressed against each other. Wade stroked up and down Mira’s body, a kind of slow-building, maddeningly intense foreplay that made her think sparks would start flying from her skin. She was going to go up in a blaze. She was so turned on that her whole body felt lush and overripe, achingly but wonderfully sensitive to the slightest touch. Some part of her felt like she could have laid there under his caresses forever, but another part—which had the edge—wanted to make sure she didn’t come until he was actually inside her. As incredible as this was, she wanted to make love with him, not just bask in his attentions. She wanted to have him as much he had her.

Her voice was well and truly shot now, so again, all she could do was gesture. And once more, he understood her right away.

He rolled on a condom and slid into her with a delicious slowness. Mira raised her legs and hooked them around his waist, silently urging him to keep going.

They fell into an easy rhythm, and Mira’s orgasm hit even sooner than she would have guessed. It took her breath away and slammed her head back into the pillow, making her whimper and grind her hips against his. She felt like her whole mind had been blotted out with pleasure.

It was unbelievably good, but she almost liked it even more when the last of the aftershocks faded and she could concentrate on just being with him: on tightening her body around his, on kissing his neck, on feeling his sweat on her skin, on seeing his eyes darkened as he got close to the edge. She cataloged it all, just to convince herself that this was real and she wasn’t dreaming it.

It wasn’t a dream, and she didn’t wake up from it. Instead, as Wade finished and they got settled, curling up in the warm and rumpled sheets, she fell asleep in his arms.