7. Bear

7

BEAR

I'm drinking coffee on the balcony when Sam comes to stand at the door. She looks beautiful, all soft and rumpled. I have an internal fight with myself not to get up, throw her over my shoulder, and take her back to bed. When I woke up this morning, she was on top of me, her hips pushing against my hard cock. Getting out of that bed was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. There's a part of me that wishes I was the type of man that could have just pushed her to her back, woken her up with a fiery kiss, and seen where it would lead.

But there's no part of me that wants to take advantage of her. When and if she ever comes to me, I want her to do it of her own volition.

She stretches, and her hard nipples press against the T-shirt she has on. “What do you want to do today?”

“Whatever you want,” I tell her. Heck, she could say she wants to go swim with sharks right now, and I’d follow her into the water.

She leans against the door frame. “How about swimming and lounging around the pool? It would be good to be seen around the resort... out and about.”

I have to agree with her on that. We can't stay holed up in this room. Not with that big bed and all the dirty thoughts stirring in my head. “Sounds good. Let's do that.”

She smiles widely, and it’s nice that something as easy as that makes her happy. She gets ready, and then so do I. We stop at the coffee shop in the lobby for her to get a latte and a pastry, then head out to the pool. It's already starting to fill up even this early in the day. There's a swim-up bar, and I see people that were at the poker tournament last night already sitting at the bar drinking.

The resort is beautiful, making me wish we were here for different reasons than the one we have. It’s hard to be happy knowing what’s happening in this very hotel.

I take my shirt off and toss it onto one of the chairs. Samantha gasps behind me. “Bear,” she says.

I turn, quickly ready to fight off anything but then realize that she was surprised by the scars that she saw on my back. I’d completely forgotten all about them. She walks up to me and puts her hand on my chest. She’s real quiet. “Is that from...?”

She doesn’t have to continue. I know what she’s asking and that she’s referring to my time as a POW. I nod, and her hand slides from my chest to my back, and she rests her head on my chest. She kisses me there on my bare skin because that's all she can reach. “I'm so sorry. Bear, I'm so sorry.” She says it over and over, and I know that she is sincere.

I reach down and cup her chin, lifting her face to look at me. “It's not your fault.” She lifts her shoulders. “I know it's not, but I can't imagine what you went through then and what you came home to.”

There are tears in her eyes, and I'm touched by the emotion on her face. I had worried that I’d regret telling her, and that maybe she would think I’m weak. But obviously she doesn’t.

I lean down. “Can I kiss you, Sam?” I say it almost breathlessly.

She nods and smiles. “I mean, we are supposed to be playing like we're married.”

I stop then, realizing what we're doing and where we're at. For just a second, I had forgotten that this is all fake. That here we are Samantha and Liam, not Sam and Bear. Instead of kissing her lips like I want to so badly, I kiss her on the forehead and release the hold I have on her.

She’s surprised; I can see it in her eyes. I wanted more than just a forehead kiss, but how can I do more, if she thinks it’s all fake and everything I’m feeling is real?

She gets herself together and walks over to her chair, the one next to mine, and takes off her wrap. She’s standing in a white bikini that leaves very little to the imagination. Her breasts are round and full, and her waist and ass have the perfect amount of curviness. My mouth starts to water, and I can’t take my eyes off her. I sit down before I fall down. “Is that the only bathing suit you have?” I ask her through gritted teeth.

She nods, looking down at herself. “Yeah, what's wrong with it?”

I shake my head. “Nothing, if you want every man looking at you. I won’t be able to do my job for fending off crazed men.”

She laughs as if I’m joking, and I’m not. One look at her would cause even the saintliest of men to turn bad.

She sits down on the chair and pulls out lotion to start wiping along her legs. “You can actually be sweet sometimes, Bear.”

I growl at her, and she laughs again. She has no idea what she's playing with. My eyes are glued to her body. She doesn't realize that if some guy gets in his head that he can touch her that I will straight-up kill him. I will end his life and not even think about it.

She leans back and pulls her glasses down over her eyes. I need to get into the pool and cool off, but there's no way I'm going to leave her here alone. So instead, I sit down in the chair next to her, put my glasses down over my eyes, and turn my head toward her. She can say what she wants—hell, I don’t even care if she sees me staring at her because there's nothing else I'd rather be looking at than her.

Sam

He's watched me for the last hour, and my whole body feels as if it’s on fire. There’s no doubt that there’s a wet spot in the panties of my bathing suit. I slide my legs together on the chair, feeling the friction between my thighs. This feeling that Bear ignites inside of me is crazy and confusing. I know it’s a bad idea, but I also know that no man has ever made me senseless like this just from a look. It leaves me with an uncontrollable urge of wanting something and not knowing if I can ever have it.

I sit up in my chair, toss my glasses down, and unsteadily stand on my feet. He jumps up quickly beside me. “Where are you going?”

I laugh. “Relax. I'm getting in to cool off a little.” I have a feeling that's the only option I have. I need to cool down, and sitting next to him while his eyes roam my body, always looking and never touching, is not helping.

He follows behind me and stands waist deep in the pool. Every woman around is looking at him, but I can’t be mad about it. I mean, how can you not look at him? I could spend hours just looking at him, and with his arms crossed over his chest and that look on his face, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses, he looks even more sexy.

As he stands watching me, I dive into the water and swim a few laps. I try to think of anything but him. Him in those black swim shorts that show off his muscular hairy legs. Him with his big, bulgy muscles. Damn, him with his overprotective attitude. After a few laps, I swim up to him, breathless. I can easily blame my panting on the workout, but in part it’s him also. I stand up out of the water, and his jaw tightens. The possessive look he gives me is like a jolt to my system. “Well, you have the possessive husband look down. There's no way a man is going to come talk to me like this,” I tell him, waving my hand up and down in front of him.

He tilts his head, pushes his glasses up, and rests them on top of his head. He stares at me without even blinking. “Does that bother you that I’m not going to let some man come up and talk to you?”

I shrug, not wanting him to know exactly what that possessive glint in his eye does to me. I swear he’s claimed me with that look and doesn’t even realize it. “No, but I'm not going to get any closer or get intel if you're hovering over me.”

He reaches out like he's going to grab me but then stops suddenly and drops his hands at his sides. “That's not the mission. You are not the target. You will not be the target.” He’s staring at me fiercely, and I know I’ve hit a button. This isn’t the reaction from just some man I work with. Bear may not want to admit it, but there’s more to this relationship between us.

I tilt my head back to look up at him, and for the first time, I wish I had my sunglasses still on. I’m almost embarrassed to ask, but I’m going to do it anyway. I probably shouldn't, but I can't stop myself. “Can I ask you something?”

He looks at me skeptically. “Yes.”

Before I can talk myself out of it, I blurt out, “This morning when I woke up—” and then I stop, suddenly not able to put the words out there.

He stiffens, and then I realize that maybe it wasn't my imagination. He's obviously not going to make a move, and I want to know something. I lean toward him, and my nipples pebble just from being this close to him. I'm so close. I take a deep breath, and I can feel them pucker against his chest. “I had a dream that something happened with us.”

He puts his hands on my shoulders. I don’t know if he’s trying to pull me toward him or push me away. I don’t think he does, either. He holds on to me firmly, though. “I didn't take advantage of you. I wouldn’t do that.”

I almost laugh. I already know that without him having to tell me, but I don't think he understands what I’m trying to say. “I know you wouldn’t, but would it be taking advantage if I wanted it?” As soon as the words are out, I hold my breath, waiting for his reaction.

He grits his teeth, and I lose my bravery and start to walk away. When I get to the edge of the pool, he grabs on to my waist to hold me. He pulls me back into the water, and my back is fitted against his chest. “Fuck, Sam. You might as well not have anything on.” I look down at my hard nipples and gasp before covering my chest. The bathing suit does nothing to hide my attraction to Bear, and obviously a white bathing suit wasn’t the right choice. I put my head in my hand, just thinking about him looking at me from behind. I can just imagine what he saw.

“Stay here,” he demands. He gets out of the pool, and my gaze follows him all the way over to our seats. He grabs a towel, and when he comes back to me, I notice the huge bulge in his shorts. I swallow thickly, my mouth watering. Damn, is that because of me? I get to the water's edge and barely get out of the pool before he's wrapping the towel around me. I mutter “thanks” to him and start to walk away, hoping I can get away and deal with my embarrassment. I’ve pretty much just thrown myself at him, and even though he’s interested, he’s not going to act on it.

I’m grabbing my things from the chair and about to walk back to the room when he stops me. “Where are you going?”

I try to hide my emotions and turn to him. “Well, I was trying to cool off, but I don’t think it’s going to happen.” He doesn’t say anything, and I throw my hands up in frustration. “I mean, is it just me? Is it one-sided or what? Because damn, Bear, I want you.”

His nostrils flare, and he takes a deep breath. He looks almost lethal staring back at me, eating me up with his eyes. I can see the conflict on his face, and then suddenly, he holds his hand out to me. “Come with me.”

I know that this is a big decision right now. I can either take his hand and see where he leads me and what could happen between the two of us, or I could live in my safe little bubble and wonder what could have been. It’s not even a hard decision to make. I put my hand in his, and he pulls me against him. We walk toward the hotel, through the lobby and to the elevators. I can feel people watching us, but my eyes are on Bear. To anyone else, he looks mad. To me, he looks like a man that is about to lose control.

We’re waiting on the elevator, and I’m starting to worry that he hasn’t said anything. “Bear....” I start, and he pulls me tighter against him. He positions me in front of him, his hands on my waist, and pulls me back to him. His hard manhood is pressing into my back.

The elevator dings, and when the doors open, we wait for people to get off, and then we walk in. When we’re alone inside, I turn in his arms. “Bear...”

He shakes his head. “Sam, I’m barely hanging on here. It wouldn’t take much for me to have you stripped and bent over with your ass in the air. Don’t tempt me. Wait until we’re in our room.” He finishes by giving me a smack on my ass, and I huff and turn away from him. So many things are going through my mind. I shouldn’t like it, but dang, I like this alpha, take-control side of Bear.

He pulls me back against him, and I can feel his hard length pulsating against me. My whole body trembles at what is going to come when we get to the room.