Free Guardian Bears: Karl by Leslie Chase

him.
    Am I still dreaming? She didn’t think so, but this was the strangest moment in her entire life.
    Unable to resist, she glanced between his legs and gasped. She could feel her cheeks flush bright red as she looked at his manhood. Oh my God, he’s huge!

    * * *
    T he sound of someone sneaking into his room was enough to make Karl’s eyes snap open. He’d been in the field too often to allow someone to creep up on him, and whoever was here now wasn’t doing a terribly good job of moving quietly. Karl lifted himself from the ice water bath with quick, quiet precision and threw open the door.
    He’d intended to catch whoever was burgling his room by surprise, but what he saw left him standing stunned himself. Allison? She jumped around to face him, and he found himself staring at her. Their eyes met and he swallowed, wishing he’d grabbed a towel before opening the door.
    “What -” he started, broke off, and tried again. “What are you doing here?”
    The words broke the spell, and Allison blushed bright red, grabbing the top sheet from the bed and pulling up to cover her. It looked like she was trying to talk, but no words came. After a moment of that, Karl smiled and shook his head.
    Why am I even questioning it? A beautiful woman sneaks into my hotel room naked, this is either a dream or a dream come true. In either case, why spoil it?
    He stepped forward, and saw her eyes flicker over him as he moved. His smile broadened – he knew, without any false modesty, that she liked what she saw. His body was toned, hard muscle under smooth skin. And he couldn’t help being pleased at the way her eyes widened when she looked down at him.
    He could feel the call of her body reaching for him, the call of one mate to another. His bear felt it as much as he did, awake and alert and hungry for her touch. Does she feel that too? Is that what brought her here, like this? What other explanation could there be?
    Another step closer, and he was near enough to reach out for the sheet. But something wasn’t right. The look in her eyes wasn’t just embarrassment or nerves. Allison was afraid of something.
    He stopped and took a step backward, giving her space. “What’s going on?”
    Flustered, Allison couldn’t speak, she just shook her head. Karl lowered his hand and smiled, trying to be reassuring. This didn’t seem like the kind of thing that Allison would do often, or really at all, and he didn’t want to make it worse for her.
    “I’m very happy to see you,” he told her, keeping his voice soft. “But if you’re having second thoughts, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”
    It was an effort to keep calm, so close to her, and his bear didn’t seem to understand the idea of restraint. It wanted to claim her, had wanted to since he’d seen her for the first time that morning. But he wasn’t about to let his animal side overrule his mind, no matter how much effort that took him.
    Allison sat on the bed, pulling the sheet around her. It didn’t do anything to hide how sexy she was, and he could feel his body responding. And hers, he thought. He wasn’t sure if it was real, but he thought he could hear her pulse speeding as she looked at him.
    “I’m not -” she shook her head, speaking so quietly he could barely hear her. “This isn’t what it looks like.”
    Karl raised an eyebrow and grinned at her.
    “I’m not sure what else it can be,” he said, “but I’m not going to judge you, whatever you’re here for. Or if you’ve changed your mind. I told you that you could come to me for anything.”
    He reached out again, slowly so as not to startle her, touching her cheek gently. The touch was as powerful as the first brush of their skin had been, back at her house, and she gasped at the contact. He smiled again.
    “But I think we both want this, don’t you?”
    It was the smallest nod he’d ever seen, but it was there. She looked away from him, flustered and nervous, and he pulled